Diet Facts About Cauliflower You Wish You’d Known Earlier

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Radha Thomas is the author of ‘The Cauliflower Diet’, a unique diet book published by Penguin Random House. The book revolves around various food possibilities and health benefits of a cauliflower, and also comprises of interesting first-hand experiences of the author.

The cauliflower is an amazing cruciferous vegetable that is one of the world’s most perfect foods. Due to its malleable and accommodating flavour, it can be used as a substitute for some of the most harmful things that we’ve grown accustomed to eating – things that not only cause us to put on weight but also cause diabetes, cancer, heart disease and a host of other dreadful diseases. In my new book The Cauliflower Diet, I’ve explained several ways in which a cauliflower, complemented with right food and exercise, can help you lead a long and healthy life.

Weight Loss

You’ve heard people tell you to stay away from ‘white’ foods like potatoes, white rice, white bread and sugars. There’s a very good reason for this. It’s common knowledge that a diet heavy in simple carbohydrates (like refined flour or ‘maida’, polished white rice, and even refined ‘atta’) will only lead to weight gain. That’s because these simple carbs are converted very quickly by the body into sugar, and stored as fat if you don’t burn it off immediately. So if you’re not a marathon runner, or even a casual, daily evening walker, chances are that you’re not burning up the energy (let’s not kid ourselves, it’s plain old fat) you have stored in your cells. That’s what’s making the midriff rattle and the belly roll.

“But what will I do?” you wonder in dismay as you see the Sambhar and Rasam turn cold. “How will I sop up the gravy in my Chicken Curry if you take away my rice?”

The answer is in The Cauliflower Diet, complete with recipes for ‘Cauliflower Rice’, ‘Cauliflower Sushi Rolls’ and even ‘Cauliflower Pizza’. It’s easy to make and delicious to eat. People have been eating my ‘Cauliflower Sushi’ and my ‘Cauliflower Paella’… actually more than 40 recipes and many of my friends swear it’s as delicious, if not more, as the original. You be the judge.

Cauliflower pizza

The two important things here are:

Carbohydrate Count

Fibre Count (Fibre is not digested by the body, it’s the roughage used to help peristalsis – the method by which your body pushes out waste)

I quote here from the book, “Let’s look at some numbers and compare the cauliflower with your normal starch-based meal. 500 gms of cauliflower contains 26.5 gms of total carbs. Of this, 12.5 gms is dietary fibre, leaving us with net carbs of 14 gms. 500 gms of cauliflower contains 125 calories. Consider the fact that 500 gms feeds about 4 to 6 people and you’ve got a winner. In contrast, 500 gms of regular rice contains 139.5 gms of total carbs, of which only 2.5 gms is dietary fibre, leaving us with net carbs of 137 gms. On the other hand, 500 grams of wheat contains 362.85 gms of total carbs, of this dietary fibre is 61 gms, leaving us with net carbs of 301.85 net carbs. And finally, 500 grams of boiled potato contains 97.6 gms of total carbs, of this dietary fibre is 8.5 gms, leaving us with net carbs of 89.1 gms.”

To sum it up, the less carbohydrates you consume, the more stored fat you burn. It’s as simple as that. The Cauliflower Diet explains how and why.

Health

It’s gluten free.It’s high in fibre.It contains no sugar.It’s very low on the glycemic index.It’s low in calories.

Cauliflower sushi

In addition, the list of vitamins and minerals in cauliflower is long. Add to this the water content and you’ve got a vegetable that is simply fabulous.

Taste

The purpose of the book The Cauliflower Diet is not to create recipes using the cauliflower. It’s quite the opposite in fact. My objective was to create a substitute for rice, a substitute for potato, a substitute for wheat and even for pasta. Cauliflower is one of the most passive and unassertive vegetables taste-wise, so it can be used to create both a texture and taste that can fool anyone but the most discerning of diners into thinking that they’re eating same-old Chinese Chicken Fried Rice and even Bisi Bele Bath, a delicacy in Bangalore. In fact, truth be told, you don’t mess with people’s Bisi Bele Bath in Bangalore unless you’re absolutely ready to take a whupping.

Bisi bele bath

There’s an added crunch and ‘crispness’ to cauliflower ‘rice’ that’s especially pleasing to the taste. With pages and pages of vegan, vegetarian and non-vegetarian recipes that are easy to make, I’m hoping you’ll enjoy The Cauliflower Diet as much as I’ve enjoyed creating and trying to perfect my recipes over the past 5 years.